Why are all the books I need for this research paper at Cave Hill? I might as well fly to Barbados, write this research and come back. Oh well, the librarians have seen me enough times in two weeks to know that I'll be back. I think I need to buy them all little gifts at the end of this research paper.....

I ain't thirsty. There's plenty of fish in the sea, but I don't want all of them, can I have some standards? Or do we just have to settle, for someone's who meh and will do."

I am standing on the rug. You see me standing on the rug. I see you reaching for it slowly, very slowly. You are considering yanking it out from under me. We both know this and have acknowledged it yet neither of us knows what you are going to do or when you are going to do it. Should I brace for it? Should I plant my feet and will you to not yank it? Should I just let go and let you rip it out from under me? Should I try to make a break for it and get away from you and your slippery rug?

Ok, I know at least one of the curlies here is an engineer but I can't remember who. But I think you should know something important!
I posted a thread on my facebook page about the pay inequality between women and men and of course a man immediately said that's a myth. He went on to say that male and female clerks get paid the same. And that female engineers get paid MORE than male engineers. Who knew?

I told him if I rolled my eyes any more they would fall out of my head.

Originally Posted by jeepcurlygurl

In my experience as an engineer, we all get paid the same.

Somehow, that seems like the very engineer way of doing things - everything mathematically even.

It can theoretically be an advantage being a woman in that there aren't a lot of female engineers, so if a company wants to raise their women quota, it's an advantage. Really though, I a) was unemployed for two years, so this reported advantage seems suspect and b) am just surrounded by dudes all the time anyway.

I hope you're well rested and ready for some fun tomorrow! We might get escorted to the state line (which is fine 'causes it's just 2 miles down the road from my house....) we could visit some Alabama curlies...

Damn STRAIGHT you do! If you didn't exist, my random posts commenting on something I'd seen on Buffy wouldn't have expanded into full-blown rants that I knew someone out there actually enjoyed reading, and therefore when my mental state really started to take a nosedive, I would not have had that reason to let/make myself do something I enjoyed. I also would have had one less reason to keep up any connection with the outside world (and for awhile there, this was nearly all I did keep up, even sporadically), nor would I have had those "hey, look, you made someone laugh today" moments reminding me that everything I do isn't completely worthless despite what my mind was trying to tell me. Just by talking about a TV show on a message board, you helped someone across the country from you not completely lose herself to depression. Even the tiny things have much bigger impact on the world than you realize. I don't even have to think of anything beyond NC.com to come up with more. Just think of how many recipes and tips you've shared on here and how much fun people have had serving your recommendations to their friends, not to mention how happy all the compliments have made them! Plus, like I said before, you are awesome in general, and removing awesome makes the world suck more.

As for fiction recommendations, do you like classics or would you rather read something modern? Are you in the mood for something very emotionally driven or mainly concerned with action? Any favorite genres?

((((xcptnl)))) I've had what sounds like the same thing before. I forget what my mom said it was, perhaps temporary lymph swelling from something or other. It freaked me out until it went away. I think it's pretty likely that yours will just go away as well but I'm really glad you went to the doctor in case it doesn't.

Originally Posted by wild_sasparilla

Aw, this is so sweet! Thank you!
When I posted it I hoped it would remind others, like you, kayb, and CIBC that as much as we sometimes feel like our lives are wasted, we do matter. It's a really hard thing for me, so it's nice to see the words. And I always miss your posts when you're not around. When I wake up early (which is most days), I look forward to checking this thread to catch your late night/early morning, insomnia-fueled thoughts/ramblings.

And yes, thankfully he's looking to date, so he's obviously not hung up on me or something.
Your acquaintance sounds incredibly gross and presumptuous. Ick!

As for books, I love classic literature. I've disliked some of course (cough, Wuthering Heights, cough), but I generally love it.
I've read newer stuff like Life of Pi, The Kite Runner, The Hunger Games, and others that I've enjoyed.
I tend to like dialogue, but beautiful prose can win me over (I'm looking at Charlotte Bronte's Villette, not you, Henry James).
One Hundred Years if Solitude, Jane Eyre, and Lolita are some of my favorites. And I love me some Agatha Christie, too! Flannery O'Connor and other southern authors do well with me, as do Russians (Chekov, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, though oy, The Brothers Karamazov was dull).
I love folk tales and mythology, but fantasy like Lord of the Rings is really dull to me, as is a lot of sci-fi.
I've thought of reading more Italo Calvino, Allende, and Coelho. Maybe some Greek tragedies, too.
Oh, and East of Eden, but I hear such mixed reactions to it that I can't ever commit to getting it.

Animated GIFs are like the old internet came back for some reason. These GIFs are ancient, y'all. When many of you were still in diapers or a twinkle in your papa's eye, animated GIFs were so freaking cool, 'cause they moved and let me tell you nothing moved on the internet — that is, until there were GIFs.

Then we moved on as society and animated GIFs became tacky and passé and relegated to atrocious Geocities pages. Animated GIFs was the punchline to most jokes about bad web design. And then they took Geocities down (well, except for Japan) and we were finally free.

But before you could utter the words "Graphics Interchange Format," they were back and now they're everywhere, and not just stupid little smiley icons, but big azz graphics that take up most of your web page.

They put me in a freaking trance, first tempting me to try to determine where the loop resets and then tricking me into staring at them with my mouth slightly open, watching the unnatural movements with a horror I cannot adequately describe. If there is superimposed text I try, and usually fail, to read the lips so as to match them up with it. It's only once I realize that I've been staring at the damn thing for a frighteningly long time that I finally do manage to tear myself away and get on with my life.

These large animated GIFs basically render me a complete dumb**** staring at my computer screen like a drooling idiot. I hate that.